The present invention relates to an inkjet printer comprising a cartridge for holding ink pellets and means for separating and releasing a single ink pellet and feeding it to the ink-supply unit of a printing head, the cartridge having at least one exit for releasing an ink pellet. The present invention also relates to a cartridge for holding ink pellets with means for separating and releasing individual ink pellets.
A printer of the above type is known from EP 1 101 617. The dispensing device in this printer comprises a holder extending vertically to hold spherically shaped ink pellets. The base of this holder extends to a separating unit for separating the ink pellets, one by one. This separating unit separates an ink pellet from the supply of ink pellets by making a single separating action. The specific construction of the separating unit prevents two or more ink pellets from being dispensed simultaneously. However, it is a disadvantage of this known inkjet printer that the separation of the ink pellets is relatively unreliable. Typically, no ink pellet is dispensed in one of the thousand separating actions of the separating unit. Particularly in applications where a high ink demand is required, for example in the printing of full-color posters, this can lead to a situation in which printing must be temporarily interrupted or else print artefacts form. Another disadvantage of the known dispensing device is that a separating action is accompanied by relatively considerable noise, which is a nuisance to a user.